Demographic and clinical profile of patients with brain metastases: A retrospective study

CONTEXT: Brain metastases are the most common type of intracranial neoplasm, with the total number outnumbering primary brain tumors by a ratio of 10:1 and occur in about 25% of cancer patients. However, controversies exist regarding demographic and clinical profile of brain metastases. AIMS: The purpose of this study was to analyze retrospectively the demographic and clinical profile of patients with brain metastases. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Retrospective, single institutional study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study of 72 patients with brain metastasis was carried out from November 2010 to October 2012. The data pertaining to these patients was entered in a standardized case record form. These include History; clinical examination and other investigations including computed tomography/magnetic resonance imaging scan of the brain. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: A statistical analysis was performed on the data collected using the MedCalc version 11. RESULTS: Brain metastases were more common in male and occur in 6(th) decade of life mostly. There was no relationship of occupation or socio-economic status with the incidence of brain metastases. Carcinoma lung was the most common primary giving rise to brain metastases followed by breast. Adenocarcinoma accounts for most common histology of the primary that give rise to metastases. Multiple metastases were more common than the single group. Supratentorial lesions were more common than infratentorial lesions. Among them, parietal lobe was the most common site of involvement. CONCLUSIONS: The present study highlights that the incidence of brain metastasis is common in elderly population and mostly due to primary lung. Adenocarcinoma was the most common histology of primary. Majority of lesions has been observed at parietal lobe.